Standing Tall
by Yueli-san
Summary: Where Neku's dad is abusive, Joshua finds out, and doesn't like it one bit.
1. Chapter 1

The first time it happens it isn't a big deal, just a slap to the back of the head for doing something stupid. There is a brief flash of pain but it's gone just as quickly. You scowl and grumble about it not being your fault and you both move on. That is until a bump on the head becomes a slap across the face for getting a bad grade on a test. It's then and there that it becomes _not ok_. The bruise sticks around for a week and no one comments or asks about it. When you try to tell your mom what happened she dismisses it with a casual, "You know he didn't mean it." But she doesn't meet your eyes. It's then that you notice the bruise around her wrist that looks suspiciously like a hand.

There is now a connection between the two of you and it makes you feel sick. What's even worse is you know you are trapped. That night all you can hear is your mom sobbing down the hall. When there is suddenly a sound of skin hitting skin and then silence you know what's happened. You hate him for hurting her but you hate her just as much for taking it lying down. From then on you don't think of them as your parents.

A slap becomes a punch and a punch becomes a kick but you'll be damned if you don't at least try to give as good as you get. The kids at school just think you're a punk who likes getting into fights and the teachers all gave up on you as soon as you showed up one day with a split lip. No one asks where the scrapes and bruises come from so you don't bother telling. Every day _His_ sneer gets more pronounced and the bags under _Her_ eyes get darker. When it's obvious that all the attention the marks get is a handful of scornful looks you start covering them up. You're not ashamed of them, actually far from it, but it's just easier to walk down the street when nobody's looking at you. You now have your values; the rest of the world can keep theirs.

By the time your fifteen it's become insignificant. Neither of _Them_ are home very often anymore and you think they are both cowards. All that you really care about is music and CAT, at least until you are shot full of lead _twice. _Sure you get some friends out of the deal and maybe become a better person. Still doesn't mean that Josh isn't an egotistical prick.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time Neku showed up at Hanekoma's café with bruises down his arms I didn't think much of it. Figured he had just brawled with Daisukenojo or something equally idiotic. So I tease him a little bit and I'm hardly surprised when he tells me to go take a walk through traffic. What _is_ surprising is the way his music goes chaotic in an entirely furious way. Now this gives me pause because his music hasn't had this under tone since his time spent in The Game. I also didn't really like how his imagination had seemed to take a much steeper dive than it usually does when he gets into one of his moods.

Normally I would just scan a person to get the information I wanted and be done with it. Since Neku is very paranoid and carries his player pin on him wherever he goes that option is immediately discarded. He has even gotten so sensitive to all things UG that he can tell when I'm around him on different frequencies so simply shadowing him for a while wouldn't work either. So I just settle for some good old fashioned RG stalking. Neku's always going on about me popping up wherever he happens to be so I might as well prove him right.

Unfortunately Neku turns out to be a lot sharper than I had thought. He hadn't even made it home before he noticed me following him and promptly and not to mention eloquently told me to fuck off. So with a pout I left to go plot in my sewer.


	3. Chapter 3

What does it mean if you see the shit about to hit the fan and you just let it? Either one, you are very lazy, or two, you mistook it for chocolate. Yeah I don't know either but the point is I so saw this coming. It was the first real beating _He _had given me since my return from The Game. I thought having his kid come back from the dead might improve his disposition, no luck. Apparently he thought I had just finally run away and was pretty pissed when I showed back up. I could just feel the love.

So for once I just decide to block the hits rather than letting them land and retaliating. Good thing was that everything was a lot more superficial than they would have been. The not so good news was my arms looked like they got run over by a truck. Repeatedly. And of course I hadn't done laundry that week so all I had left were short sleeves. I used up the last of the concealer a couple days before my entry in The Game and with everything that went on I forgot to pick more up.

I would have just stayed home if I thought I could get away with it. But I had already blown off Josh once this week and that's what started this mess in the first place. When I didn't show up he decided to come pick me up. When I got back _He_ decided to give me a lesson on making prissy friends. Hate what _He'd _think if he actually met Josh.

So when I meet up with Josh and Mr. H and the most they give me is an amused glance I figure I'm home free. At least until Josh gets this glint in his eye that usually means trouble for anyone around him. When I notice him following me home and call him out on it the look on his face lets me know that this isn't over. Though his face is hardly frightening, the last time he gave me that look I ended up modeling Shiki and Eri's début fashion show in drag. And he wonders why I wear the player pin wherever I go?


End file.
